Apparatus and method for metering oral tobacco in portions suitable for consumption

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for metering oral tobacco into portions suitable for consumption including a delivery device to hold and deliver the tobacco and a metering device to receive the tobacco from the delivery device. The metering device includes a shaping component operative to shape and press the tobacco into at least one endless tobacco rod and a slicing component operative to slice the endless tobacco rod into pre-defined tobacco portions with respect to shape and weight and to discharge the tobacco portions for subsequent processing. Further, a method for metering oral tobacco in portions suitable for consumption, includes the steps of delivering the tobacco, continuous shaping and pressing the tobacco into at least one endless tobacco rod, slicing the endless tobacco rod into pre-defined tobacco portions with respect to shape and weight, and conveying the tobacco portions to a subsequent processing station.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns an apparatus for metering oral tobacco inportions suitable for consumption, comprising a delivery device for thetobacco and a metering device for forming and discharging tobaccoportions suitable for consumption. The invention further concerns amethod for metering oral tobacco in portions suitable for consumption.

Apparatuses and methods of this kind are used in the tobacco-processingindustry to process oral tobacco (or tobacco mixtures), that is, tobaccowhich is put wholly in the mouth for smoke-free consumption, namely, inparticular to meter and dispense it. Here, a distinction is made betweenthe so-called sliced tobacco which is put in the mouth for consumptione.g. in a bag made of cellulose or the like, and the so-called loosetobacco which is put in the mouth for consumption directly, that is,without a surrounding package. For this there are in general the twoproduct groups SNUS and SNUFF. SNUS is a product which is processed, forexample, in Scandinavia and for which the tobacco is inter aliapasteurised. SNUFF, a product common, for example, in North America, isa fermented tobacco. Both product groups are sliced in bags or suppliedloose. The term “tobacco” here includes not only the actual tobacco, butalso tobacco with additives, flavourings or the like.

The sliced tobacco, which is consumed in packaged form, for example in abag made of cellulose or the like, must be sliced into portions suitablefor consumption and put in the bags before packing in tins, boxes,combination packs or the like. The tobacco portions, of which the weightand size can vary and are, for example, usually in the region of amilligram to one or more grams, are divided from a tobacco flow that isdelivered continuously or intermittently, by means of metering devices,and usually packed by means of so-called sealed-edge or tubular bagmachines such as are known, for example, from German Patent Document DE10 2005 017 474 A1 or German Patent Document DE 10 2007 041 808 A1. Theloose tobacco which is directly put into the mouth is filled unpacked intins, boxes, combination packs or the like, metering or slicing intoportions suitable for consumption being performed by the consumer. Inthis case the consumer determines the size and weight of the tobaccoportion.

For metering the tobacco portions suitable for packing or consumption,in particular for filling the bags or the like with tobacco portions,from practical experience are known apparatuses comprising fillingchambers into which the tobacco delivered via belts, funnels or thelike, usually loose tobacco, is brushed in or sucked in. The volume of afilling chamber corresponds to a portion suitable for packing orconsumption. From the filling chamber, the tobacco portion is passed toa subsequent apparatus, for example the sealed-edge or tubular bagmachine. This can be effected or assisted by force of gravity, suction,compressed air or in some other ordinary way. For instance, the portionscan be blown out through feed pipes through which the bag paper ispassed.

However, the known apparatuses have the drawback that only free-flowingtobacco, that is, tobacco with a low residual moisture content, can beprocessed. To put it another way, the known apparatuses and methods arevery sensitive to damp tobacco, that is, tobacco with a residualmoisture content of, for example, more than 20% up to a residualmoisture content of, for example, 60% or more, or to tobacco with oils,flavourings or the like that increase the moisture content of thetobacco. This means that the damp and therefore sticky tobacco leads todeposits in the apparatuses and, at worst, blockage of the apparatus andinterruption of the process. Hence short cleaning intervals arenecessary, which leads to downtimes and outage times. Another drawbacklies in that metering and slicing of the individual portions is veryimprecise in particular due to the deposits. To put it another way, theweight and volume of the individual portions vary. Slicing of the loosetobacco also has the drawback that, because it is done by the consumer,it is very imprecise, as a result of which consumption may be impaired.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improvedapparatus and method for metering tobacco, in particular damp tobaccowith a residual moisture content of more than 30%.

The above and other objects are accomplished according to one aspect ofthe invention wherein there is provided an apparatus for metering oraltobacco into portions suitable for consumption including a deliverydevice to hold and deliver the tobacco and a metering device to receivethe tobacco from the delivery device. The metering device includes ashaping component operative to shape and press the tobacco into at leastone endless tobacco rod and a slicing component operative to slice theendless tobacco rod into pre-defined tobacco portions with respect toshape and weight and to discharge the tobacco portions for subsequentprocessing.

In an embodiment, by shaping and pressing the tobacco on the one handand slicing into defined tobacco portions on the other hand, even damptobacco with a high residual moisture content (usually between 30% and60%, or higher) can be sliced precisely into so-called pressed blanks orpellets, so that reproducible metering which soils the apparatus only toa minor extent is ensured. Due to the fact that the pellets are alreadypressed and shaped before introduction into the bag, careful andinherently stable transport can be ensured. This crucially helps toobtain the so-called “white portions.” “White portions” means that thebags remain unchanged in colour on filling with the tobacco portions,and so in particular no tobacco juice leads to colouration of the bags.The embodiment allows precise metering of tobacco portions ready forconsumption, which are to be consumed optionally directly or in a bag.In general, the design according to the embodiment leads to increasedprocess reliability with few downtimes.

In another embodiment, the apparatus is constructed and designed forsimultaneously shaping and pressing a plurality of endless tobacco rods.As a result, the efficiency of the apparatus is increased. In particularthis design allows, for example, direct allocation of one endlesstobacco rod to each feed pipe of a sealed-edge or tubular bag machine,as a result of which the output of the sealed-edge or tubular bagmachine is increased.

Advantageously, in another embodiment, a plurality of endless tobaccorods may be assigned a common element for simultaneous slicing. Thismeans that with one element at least one tobacco portion each can beseparated from all endless tobacco rods synchronously, as a result ofwhich a high capacity is obtained.

In another embodiment, behind each slicing component is arranged astorage device which is constructed and designed for spatially separatereception of at least two tobacco portions of the same endless tobaccorod. With this design it is ensured that the continuously manufacturedendless tobacco rods or tobacco portions separated from the endlesstobacco rods can optionally be conveyed continuously or cyclically tothe subsequent apparatus, for example the sealed edge or tubular bagmachine.

Further, another embodiment discloses a method for metering oral tobaccoin portions suitable for consumption, the steps including delivering thetobacco, continuous shaping and pressing the tobacco into at least oneendless tobacco rod, slicing the endless tobacco rod into pre-definedtobacco portions with respect to shape and weight, and conveying thetobacco portions to a subsequent processing station. The resultingadvantages of the method have already been described in connection withthe apparatus, on account of which reference is made to the foregoingpassages to avoid repetition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more readily understood from the followingdetailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus for metering oral tobacco inportions suitable for consumption, including a delivery device and ametering device, according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a storage device for receiving a pluralityof tobacco portions of the same endless tobacco rod according to theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a feed pipe of the storage device with afilled and sealed bag according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the shaping component and the slicingcomponent of the metering device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus 10 for metering oral tobacco11 (hereinafter also referred to as the tobacco) in portions 17 suitablefor consumption, including a delivery device 12 and a metering device13, according to the invention. The metering device 13 for forming anddischarging portions suitable for consumption has a shaping component 14for shaping and pressing the tobacco 11 into at least one endlesstobacco rod 15 as well as a slicing component 16 for slicing the endlesstobacco rod 15 into tobacco portions 17 defined with respect to size andweight. Such tobacco portions can be packed in bags or provided asblanks such as tablets.

The delivery device 12 can be constructed differently and may be, forexample, a conveyor belt, a chute or, as shown in FIG. 1, a funnel. Themetering device 13 for forming and discharging the portions suitable forconsumption serves to form individual portions from the continuouslydelivered (loose) tobacco, optionally for filling a bag or otherpackages, and deliver them to the bag or package. For this purpose themetering device 13 has the shaping component 14 for shaping and pressingthe tobacco 11 which in the embodiment shown is an extrusion press withrotary rollers. But other ordinary apparatuses for shaping and pressingtobacco can be used as well. The slicing component 16 for slicing orseparating individual tobacco portions 17 from the endless tobacco rod15 can be a blade, a wire or any other tool suitable for cutting orshearing.

The shaping component 14 may be constructed and designed forsimultaneously shaping and pressing a plurality of endless tobacco rods15. In the embodiment shown, four endless tobacco rods 15 can be madesimultaneously. Naturally, fewer than four or more than four can be madesimultaneously, for example even up to sixteen endless tobacco rods 15.For this purpose the shaping component 14 can provide a separate shapingand pressing component for each endless tobacco rod 15, for exampleaccording to the number of endless tobacco rods 15 wanted. In theembodiment according to the figures, however, a central shapingcomponent 14 is provided and assigned a multi-path jet, nozzle or thelike. To put it another way, the jet or nozzle has a number of openingswhich defines the number of endless tobacco rods 15 running alongsideeach other. The plurality of endless tobacco rods 15 may be guided inparallel. With respect to the orientation of the endless tobacco rods15, different arrangements or orientations of the jet or nozzle arepossible. For example, the endless tobacco rods 15 according to FIG. 1run parallel in the width dimension B of the delivery device 12 orfunnel, while the endless tobacco rods 15 in the embodiment according toFIG. 4 lie parallel and adjacent to each other in the length dimension Lof the rotary rollers. To put it another way, the jet or nozzle can beconstructed or arranged so that the endless tobacco rods 15 havedifferent directions of emergence from the metering device 13.

For slicing or separating the individual tobacco portions 17 from theendless tobacco rods 15, the slicing component 16 is arranged behind theshaping and pressing element or the jet or nozzle in the direction offlow of the endless tobacco rods 15. In the embodiment described, theslicing component 16 is constructed so that all endless tobacco rods 15can be processed simultaneously with the slicing component 16. In otherwords, a common slicing component 16 is provided, which slices all theendless tobacco rods 15 with a single separating movement. In otherembodiments each endless tobacco rod can be assigned its own separateslicing component 16.

Directly behind the slicing component 16 for portioning or separatingcan be arranged a processing station such as, for example, a sealed edgeor tubular bag machine. Optionally, however, the metering device 13 canalso be followed by a storage device 18 (see FIG. 2) behind the slicingcomponent 16 in the direction of flow of the endless tobacco rods 15.The storage device 18 uncouples the metering device 13 from a subsequentprocessing station and can be arranged centrally. Each endless tobaccorod 15 may be assigned its own storage device 18 which is constructedand designed for spatially separate reception of at least two tobaccoportions 17 of the same endless tobacco rod 15. This means that thecontinuously produced tobacco portions 17 can be received in the storagedevice 18 and dispensed again cyclically. In the embodiment shown, thestorage device 18 is a kind of turntable 19 with a plurality ofreceptacles 20 for the tobacco portions 17. By rotation of the turntable19 the receptacles 20 can be moved out of a receiving position A_(UF)into a dispensing position A_(B) and vice versa. The turntable 19 has atleast two or more receptacles 20. In the region of the dispensingposition A_(B) is provided a blow-out station 23 by means of which thetobacco portions 17 located in the receptacles 20 can be conveyed tosubsequent processing stations, for example to feed pipes 21 of asealed-edge or tubular bag machine. The storage device 18 can also beconstructed as a sliding element or in some other known way. In FIG. 3is shown such a feed pipe 21 through which the bag paper is passed tomake a filled and closed sealed-edge bag 22.

As already mentioned, the apparatus 10 can in particular be combinedwith a sealed-edge or tubular bag machine. The apparatus 10 can howeveralso be connected to other processing stations, in particular packingmachines.

Below, the principle of the method is described in more detail with theaid of FIGS. 1 to 4. Tobacco 11, tobacco mixtures or the like aredelivered to the apparatus 10 for metering oral tobacco via the deliverydevice 12. This tobacco 11 is continuously shaped and pressed in theshaping component 14 into at least one or a plurality of endless tobaccorods 15. The endless tobacco rods 15 which may be guided in parallel arethen cut. This means that individual tobacco portions 17 defined in sizeand weight are separated from the or each endless tobacco rod 15. Thesetobacco portions 17 are then delivered directly or via the storagedevice 18 to a subsequent processing station.

Shaping and pressing of the plurality of endless tobacco rods 15 maytake place simultaneously, as may cutting of the endless tobacco rods 15into tobacco portions 17. In the event that the tobacco portions 17 areconveyed cyclically to the subsequent processing station, the tobaccoportions 17 are stored. For this purpose the tobacco portions 17 dropinto receptacles 20 of a turntable 19. By rotation of the turntable 19,a free receptacle 10 is provided beneath each exit of an endless tobaccorod from the shaping component 14 for shaping and pressing and behindthe separating slicing component 16. As soon as the receptacle 20 isfull, the turntable 19 is rotated further. Therefore, in the region ofthe receiving position A_(UF) there is always an empty receptacle 20.Further, the filled receptacles 20 are transported to the dispensingposition A_(B) and there the tobacco portions 17 are ejected. Thetobacco portions 17 may be delivered to a sealed-edge or tubular bagmachine. It is however possible to deliver the tobacco portions 17, ofwhich the shape and weight can of course vary, to any processingstations. When metering and conveying the tobacco portion 17 suitablefor packing and consumption, care must be taken that the tobacco 11, theendless tobacco rods 15 and the tobacco portions 17 have the samedirection of flow, for example a rectilinear or downward verticaldirection. But other directions of conveying, for example in thehorizontal direction, are possible as well.

It will be understood that the above description of the presentinvention is susceptible to various modifications, changes andadaptations, and that the same are intended to be comprehended withinthe meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

1. An apparatus for metering oral tobacco into portions suitable forconsumption, comprising: a delivery device to hold and deliver thetobacco; and a metering device to receive the tobacco from the deliverydevice, wherein the metering device comprises a shaping componentoperative to shape and press the tobacco into at least one endlesstobacco rod and a slicing component operative to slice the endlesstobacco rod into pre-defined tobacco portions with respect to shape andweight and to discharge the tobacco portions for subsequent processing.2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shaping component isconstructed to simultaneously shape and press the tobacco into aplurality of endless tobacco rods.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the slicing component is operative to simultaneously slice theplurality of endless tobacco rods.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 2,further comprising a plurality of slicing components each assigned toslice one of the plurality of endless tobacco rods.
 5. An apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a storage device to receive thetobacco portions discharged from the metering device, wherein thestorage device includes separate receptacles to store at least twotobacco portions of the same endless tobacco rod.
 6. An apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the slicing component comprises one of ablade or wire.
 7. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprisingone of a sealed-edge or tubular bag machine to receive and package thetobacco portions discharged from the metering device.
 8. A method formetering oral tobacco in portions suitable for consumption, the stepscomprising: delivering the tobacco; continuously shaping and pressingthe tobacco into at least one endless tobacco rod; slicing the endlesstobacco rod into pre-defined tobacco portions with respect to shape andweight; and conveying the tobacco portions to a subsequent processingstation.
 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the step ofcontinuously shaping and pressing simultaneously shapes the tobacco intoa plurality of endless tobacco rods and the step of slicingsimultaneously slices the plurality of endless tobacco rods intopre-defined tobacco portions.
 10. A method according to claim 8, furthercomprising the step of storing the tobacco portions before conveying thetobacco portions to the subsequent processing station.
 11. A methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the step of slicing comprises one ofcutting or shearing.
 12. A method according to claim 8, wherein the stepof delivering includes delivering the tobacco to a central location andthe step of shaping and pressing includes dividing the tobacco into aplurality of endless tobacco rods.
 13. A method according to claim 8,further comprising the step of delivering the tobacco portions from theprocessing station to one of a sealed-edge or tubular bag machine forfilling bags.
 14. A method according to claim 8, including processingthe steps of delivering the tobacco, shaping and pressing the tobacco,slicing the endless tobacco rod and conveying the tobacco portions in arectilinear direction
 15. A method according to claim 8, wherein theprocessing is in a downward vertical direction.
 16. A combinationcomprising: the metering apparatus according to claim 1; and asealed-edge or tubular bag machine coupled for receiving the tobaccoportions produced by the metering apparatus.